The overarching, almost certainly the only reason the Milwaukee Brewers traded Freddy Peralta to the New York Mets in January 2026 is the fact that next season will be his last under contract. It’s quite a bargain at that, an $8 million team option for a Cy Young-level ace. But the Brewers stood no chance to bring Peralta back in free agency. The Mets and their millions do, but president of operations David Stearns won’t broach the topic just yet.
Mets mum on eventual extension for Peralta
“I’m not going to speculate on that Day 1 here,” Stearns said in the post-trade media hubbub. “We’ll let Freddy get acclimated to the organization. And, you know, any conversations that we may have or have in the future I think we’re going to do our best to keep private and not talk about publicly.”
Stearns, and thus the Mets directly, have a historical connection with Peralta, boosting the chances that an extension ultimately gets done. ESPN’s Jorge Castillo notes that Stearns was the Brewers general manager who snagged Peralta in a trade way back in 2015, when he was still a Mariners prospect.
His esteem for Peralta could help facilitate a long-term union.
“This is someone who, first and foremost, is a really good person,” Stearns said of Peralta. “He meshes well with his teammates, with his organization. He emerged as a really quality leader in the clubhouse and with the Brewers, and he’s constantly getting better and I had a front-row seat for that during his development.”
The trade ended Peralta’s career in Milwaukee after eight seasons, plus two more in the organization’s farm system. He finished his Brew Crew ride on a high note, going 17-6 to lead the National League in wins for baseball’s winningest team. He posted a career-best 2.70 ERA and struck out 200-plus for a third straight season.
Now 29, after ascending the Brewers’ ranks to spearhead the rotation, Peralta will lead the Mets staff in year one – and quite possibly, for many years after.
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